Adataneses
by Soraye
Summary: When Noah built a boat, not only his three sons were involved. Through the hate and scorn of humankind, four women found their way into the family. This is the story of Adataneses, wife of Japheth. Then, however, she was just another girl. A girl walking the seemingly normal path that God made into so much more.
1. Chapter 1

**Some notes:**

**-This story originally was named _'Ilanit, the wife of Japheth'_, but after some research I decided to change the name of the characters and the plot line a bit.**

**-All the character names are posted as a separate chapter at the end of the story, so if you're confused you can look the names up**

**-The image for this story is of a character from the movie Noah (2014), I don't own the image and of course I don't own that movie. Also, the plot of this story is NOT based on that movie; I haven't even seen it yet so that would be close to impossible.**

**-Read your bible pray everyday people~ -highfives random persons-**

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><p><em>"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."<em>

_Genesis 6: 5-13 - King James Version_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

A deep voice was carried by the wind, straight to my ears. I closed my eyes and listened carefully. Who was it that was singing this song about an Adonai?

I couldn't believe that there were still people who believed in God. I was always told that the foolish generations before us believed in something like a God, but that we knew better. On my thirtieth birthday, I thought the last believer of Adonai died. It was our grandfather Methuselah. We always thought that ancient man to be senile and no one ever took him seriously anymore. So when he told stories of the old times when a powerful being had walked with humans in a paradise, nobody believed him. If such a being existed, them why didn't he show himself?

But here, somebody still appeared to sing about him. What faith! But even though I applauded his perseverance, I immediately thought him to be rather foolish. Curious as to who this unfortunate soul was, I tiptoed towards the source of the voice.

After some careful sneaking and guessing in general directions, I spotted him. It was a young man, probably just about eighty years old. I stopped and tried to pay more attention to the words of his song.

The words, however, suddenly stopped and he fell silent. I cautiously looked in his direction from behind one of the giant trees I had hid myself behind, but he stared directly at me.

"O-Oh, excuse me if I disturbed you..." I managed to get out. Even though I had just scoffed at his belief, now I was somehow nervous to be around a believer. He amazed me in a peculiar way and I couldn't understand why.

"Don't worry, you didn't." he replied with a warm smile. "May I ask your name?"

"Adataneses, Adataneses bint Eliakim." I said hesitantly, trying to take a step back to create more distance between us.

"'Bint Eliakim?'" He repeated surprised. "You're a daughter of Eliakim?"

"Uh, yes." I studied his face and saw a dozen of emotions flow over it. Surprise, anger, fear, and finally his smile returned, albeit a bit smaller and colder than before.

"A daughter of Eliakim, huh." he mused. "Well then, I better be going. My _father_," he stressed, "must be looking for me. I need to get back to work."

"Your _father_." I echoed, trying to mimic the emphasis on the word. "Should I know him?" I asked unsure, not understanding the sudden cold shoulder. Okay, I was practically hiding from him, that may have not been the right approach for a friendly conversation, but it didn't seem to have bothered him before.

He was already standing up while he barked out a laugh. "Yeah, I think you should know him. Doesn't your whole family knows us?" he asked bitterly.

Before I could ask anything else, he quickly walked away and disappeared through the forest.

I huffed angry. Never had someone treated me that way because of my family name. What an arrogant person that had been. I kicked a stray pebble and turned around.  
>I shouldn't let myself in with those weird believers anyway.<p>

* * *

><p>When I got home from my trek through the forest, I was greeted by one of my many brothers.<p>

"There you are, they were looking for you, dumb ass." he scolded, already pushing me not to gently towards the cooking tent.

"Can't I even take one walk in the forest?" I sighed.

"Quit whining." he countered, now shoving me inside the tent making me collide with the tent flap.

"I'm baaaack." I muttered, pushing the tent flap aside and entering. Immediately one of my sisters was pulling me away, through all the busy women preparing the evening meal. She began recounting what was done and what had to be done without much of a thought and I listened obediently. I guess I couldn't escape cooking today and I joined all the women with the preparing.

Soon somebody pulled out Gesh. It was a juice of berries that made you feel more happy if you drank a lot of it , so we did. It didn't do more as bring light happiness, so some men were experiencing with tougher stuff. The women were already content with the current liquid. Some of the girls immediately drank with eager. Consequently, there was more laughing heard instead of the orders that were yelled in the beginning. The older sisters finally discovered the Gesh, but didn't even think about taking it away and took greedy gulps also.

When somebody offered me a jug of the substance, I too readily accepted and began drinking. It was something that made this duty more bearable and I joined in the laughing group of girls.

"Oh, not again!" A man yelled at the entrance of the tent. The women all laughed and yelled at him. He let the flap slide close again, yelling at the other men that 'those girls were at it again.'

A howler of laughter was heard and after some time someone took a peek inside and urged the most influenced of the group outside, so that the others could prepare the rest of the meal in relative peace.

I was luckily one of those who was asked to come outside, with a bit of acting overly happy on my part and being mistaken to have drunken too much.

I stretched contently when I came outside and slowly made my way to the campfire. Another night of 'fun and more fun' it was. It wasn't like I really cared one way or another, life didn't have much more meaning for our clan anyway.

"Adataneses!" I heard somebody yell. Soon a pair of arms were draped over my shoulders, and I laughed excitedly.

"Sedeqetelebab!" I yelled, turning around and hugging her.

"My, I haven't seen you for way too long. " She exclaimed when we released each other. We walked the rest of the way to the campfire together and took our place behind some of our brothers and sisters.

"But you know, from today on, father has decided to stay here to collect the grain. So we'll be together every day for a whole moon, because our shifts are always together." she explained and I laughed happily.

The work on the land was tiring, but to be with my favorite sister again was an opportunity that didn't come all too often.

"After this moon, we could always go work on the land of the Addot family. They always harvest later than us." I whispered. Sedeqetelebab made a face and I slapped her lightly on her hand. "Come on, I know it means more work but it also means more products. Our family will be happy with us and it isn't like we can see each other often anywhere else."

Sedeqetelebab sighed. "I'm sorry Adataneses, but father would never agree to that. He hates the Addot family. You do remember that daughter of them, don't you?"

I nodded vaguely, indeed remembering something about one of those daughters.

Sedeqetelebab continued. "They accepted their daughter's wish to marry with Shem ben Noah!"

I gasped, enjoying acting out such thing as a scandal.

"That lunatic Noah? That's building some wooden structure?" I asked.

"Yeah, exactly, that Noah. Not only is he building that weird thing, they also say..." before Sedeqetelebab continued she took the time to look around her as if checking if somebody was listening in to our conversation. After she was done she leaned in to finish her sentence. "They also say he still _believes_."

"A believer?" I asked surprised. "But grandfather-"

"Yeah, yeah." she interrupted exited. "I thought so too, that grandfather was the last one, but there are actually more! Can you believe it?"

I thought for some time about the believers while listening to the music that had begun playing and accepting another jug of Gesh to share with Sedeqetelebab. Then I suddenly remembered my encounter. I elbowed her and when I got her attention I began to tell about that man singing about Adonai.

"So I think he was a believer too." I finished.

"Another one?" Sedeqetelebab asked surprised. "But aside from Noah and his family there aren't- Oh but that is it!" she suddenly exclaimed, taking my hands and squeezing them. "You must have met one of his sons!"

"No way." I said. "Do his sons believe too?"

"Uh-uh." she nodded. "That's why father was so mad at the Addot for giving their daughter away to one of Noah's sons. Maybe you met her husband. Or maybe you met..."

I looked at her questioningly, noticing the sudden sadness in her eyes, but before I could ask her about it she quickly began asking me tons of questions.

"What did you think of him? Was he nice? Peaceful? They are- I mean _they say_ that they are very gentle men, contrary to our clansmen."

I shook my head. "I don't know, it was very brief and he seemed distant. Why, you're interested in him?" I asked half jokingly, but I stopped smiling when her face suddenly looked tense.

"What's wrong Sedeqetelebab?" I asked.

"Well it's just that..." she began but she didn't dare to finish and looked around her nervously. I understood that this was a secret so I stood up, beckoned her over and took her back toward the cooking tent, that now was desolated.

"Tell me." I urged her when we arrived.

"Okay, but promise me not to tell anyone else?" she said, biting her fingernails.

"I promise." I said without hesitating. She studied me for some time before giving in and spilling her secret.

"Actually, I've been meeting with one of the sons of Noah." she then said.

My eyes became wide but now that she had begun with her story, she didn't let that stop her.

"He's called Ham. I was curious, because of our heritage you know. That our family used to believe in that God that he believes in. I talked to him and we decided to meet up a couple of times. He told me about the God he believes in. He also told me the structure that his father was building was a boat, because his father had received a message from God that as punishment for the sins of the world, he would let it rain till the highest mountain would not be seen anymore."

I couldn't believe my ears, but she still wasn't finished.

"When I told this to father, he became furious. He forbid me to talk to him ever again." There was a hint of regret on her face. "But I couldn't forget about him."

Finally having done her story she sat down on the ground and hid her face in her hands. I noticed her shoulders were shaking lightly.

"But Sedeqetelebab-" I started.

"I know, I know. It's impossible and it's stupid, but he was so sweet." she cried.

"Sedeqetelebab no. Stop that." I knelt down and hugged her. "He must have bewitched you. When was the last time you saw him?"

"L-last week." she stuttered.

I let her go and slapped her across the face. She just took it and held her cheek, still crying.

"Father would kill you if he knew that!" I hissed, scared with the sudden graveness of this secret. "Sedeqetelebab, you could have died, that man is dangerous. That whole family is dangerous! And even more so now I know that they are believers. Believers are wicked people, Sedeqetelebab, you mustn't let yourself in with them. You have to forget about him."

She continued crying and I held her again, shushing her.

The evening progressed around us, but we stayed there on the ground beside the tent, speaking in hushed tones.

I tried and tried, but Sedeqetelebab kept talking about how sweet he was and how she had finally felt at peace with him.

"Sedeqetelebab." I told her at last. "If you continue to speak so highly of him, you'll be murdered. As will I if they notice I knew about it."

When I talked about my own life being in danger, her head snapped up. She wiped away a tear and stared at me. "You're right." she spoke slowly. "I've brought you in danger. There is no going back now."

"No going back?" I asked bewildered, but she suddenly sprang up and ran away.

"Sedeqetelebab? Sedeqetelebab!" I yelled after her, but she disappeared into the crowd and it was already to dark to have a chance of finding her.

That evening I went to bed with a heavy heart.

And I stood up with a even heavier one, when the news came to me that Sedeqetelebab had ran away to join the family of Noah.

Our family was furious, but when they went to find Noah and his family to murder Sedeqetelebab and maybe Noah's family itself, they were nowhere to be found.

No one had actually seen the wooden structure before and whispers were they must have relocated their old living quarters to where the structure itself was, deep inside the forest with the giant trees.

They disappeared from the surface and it became a taboo subject to talk about.

People forgot about it.

But even after years went by, I couldn't forget.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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><p>Life had become a slur of days. I now had reached the tender age of ninety, and there were only five years left before I would probably be wed to one of my brothers or nephews.<p>

The sun was slowly creeping above the horizon, but I was still lying in my bedroll. They said that if you became a wife, you could get a bed with the wool of sheep or the feathers of a goose. But apparently, that wasn't appropriate for unwed girls. I never could understand the way of the clans.

Noticing my laziness, someone kicked me and urged me to get up already.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do with my day though. The harvest season hadn't begun yet and the families had become so prosperous that we didn't need to work every day to survive. We could actually slack off once in a while.

The others seemed to fill their empty days by having fights and sometimes even _murdering_ each other. A favorite past time now a days was to kill the men you lost a game against. I really was afraid of those men and with the day, I began to fear more for my own life. More and more cases were heard where women or young boys were abducted, raped and then brutally murdered. Instead of punishing the men for these acts, the culprits told their stories to the others around the camp fire and everyone laughed about it.

I was lucky my position was relatively safe as the daughter of Eliakim, but...

You just never knew.

Maybe I should go take another walk, far away from everyone. It had been ages since I had walked a nice and long time. Even though they didn't like it when I went into the woods, they wouldn't notice my absence anyway. And because of the fact that there were stories of evil gods located in the forest, nobody dared to go in there too. I would be alone. Finally.

With my mind set, I quickly got up and made myself ready for the day. When I had briefly helped one of my older sisters with a task, I silently made my way over to the woods. Once I was sure no one was around, I slipped between the trees and began walking.

After ninety years of practice, I had become quite good at finding my way back, so I didn't have to worry about getting lost too much, as long as I payed close attention to where I was walking and had been walking. Still, it was really easy to walk in circles without noticing, so I tried to be careful.

In the back of my mind a nagging voice kept telling me about that encounter that I had here once. About that day when my sister vanished. I bit my cheek and balled my hands in fists. Stupid Sedeqetelebab. I couldn't forgive her for leaving us all behind.

But that didn't mean I didn't miss her.

"Haa..." I sighed.

"Having a heavy day?" I heard somebody deadpan. I whirled around and my eyes became as round as saucers when I saw who was standing there with an tool on his one and a knapsack over his other shoulder.

"Y-you!" I stuttered, pointing at him. "You are that man from that day. A son of Noah!"

"Ah, you know whose son I am now." he said, throwing his stuff on the ground and sitting down on a boulder.

"So it really is true?" I asked perplexed. I somehow expected him to be ashamed of his heritage, but he didn't react much at all.

"Yeah, really true." He said, getting a fruit out of his sack and beginning to munch on it. "And you're a daughter of Eliakim." he then said almost accusingly.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked offended with his tone.

"Eliakim is about as sinful as a man can get." he spat out, suddenly looking almost scary. "And his sons are even worse."

With him being so angry all of a sudden, I couldn't help but notice how strong he looked. He could probably easily snap my back without breaking a sweat.

I shivered.

I should get away. Our families never were top keen on each other and with the Sedeqetelebab incident still fresh it was even allowed to kill one of Noah's kin on sight. So the Noah clan was probably allowed to kill me too. Not that I could say that made them more dangerous than my own family. Even my own brothers were allowed to kill me if I treaded wrongly. I had to lay low at home, but here, danger seemed even more close than normal.

Without saying anything, I turned around to run away. But he stopped me.

"Going so fast?" he asked, still leisurely munching on his fruit, but he still had crossed the distance from the boulder to where I was standing in the blink of an eye.

I shot a fearful look over my shoulder. When he was singing those years ago, I wasn't that afraid, but now, matters were different. Now I knew who he was and that our families hated each other. Now he was angry. Now he had a scary looking tool.

But when he saw my look, his eyebrows rose and he let go, taking a slow step backwards.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's wrong? Why so scared?" he asked genuinely concerned. He even looked behind him if there was a dangerous animal there.

I didn't trust him at all, and I proceeded to run the moment he let me go. Not my smartest move. I was still trying to keep him in sight and didn't look where I was going. I ran face first into a tree and fell to the ground, grasping my face in pain. I had put way too much force in that run, probably because I was scared. Probably because I was still scared. Now my head was throbbing and I was seeing stars.

I almost jumped when I felt a big hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, but I saw that he was holding back his laughter.

"Don't laugh!" I bit out, only to fearfully shrink away.

He ignored my giddiness and began to laugh all out.

I was almost pouting, weren't it for the fact that I was afraid and that my head hurt. I groaned when my vision began to dance. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear anything anymore and blackness overwhelmed me.

* * *

><p><p>

"Hey Japheth, I didn't expect you back so soon."

"Yeah, me neither."

A strange voice was talking and a little more well-known one was yelling in my ear. Not understanding how that was possible, I opened my eyes. When I looked up, I looked straight into the eyes of the man from the Noah family. I screamed, immediately grabbing my head in pain at the sound.

"Wait, who is that?" somebody asked.

"Who is who, honey?" a women joined in.

I was sure I was as white as a blanket and I tried to pry myself loose from his grip. Was he carrying me? And were those more clan members of Noah?

I didn't think I was ever more scared in my life.

This was the end for me, it had to be, and what had I achieved? Days and days of work and feasts. Other than that, nothing.

"Oh my, she's shaking like a leaf. What have you done to her?" the women asked, now closer than before.

The man that was carrying me had stopped walking but I didn't dare to look where we had stopped. I was waiting for the blow that would end my life.

How did they do it in my clan again?

Sometimes they were merciful, but most of the time the death of someone would be part of a feast for the men. What if he had taken me here to make my death a spectacle? That was the only explanation! I began to shake even harder and was almost crying.

I felt a small hand caressing my face and a whisper of "poor thing" was heard.

"Japheth, don't tell me this is a girl of one of the clans in the East." the other man suddenly asked.

"Well, actually, she's of Eliakim." the one who was still carrying me, and apparently called Japheth, responded.

"WHAT?!" the other yelled back.

I again grabbed my head because of the hard sound.

"Quiet darling, she's in pain." the women scolded. She then continued: "Even though the children of Eliakim have changed for the worse over the years, what matters now is that she is injured. Can you bring her to my tent, Japheth?"

Japheth grunted in response and we were moving again.

At some point I must have fainted again, even though it felt more like drifting into sleep in the middle of the ruckus around me. When I woke up it was already dark and I was lying in a tent.

"Adataneses?"

My mind was surely playing tricks on me now, because that sounded just like Sedeqetelebab. I apparently had mumbled my thoughts out loud, because she now said: "Yes, Adataneses, yes. It's me." She sounded like she had been crying. Why would she be crying?

It suddenly dawned on me who I was talking to exactly and I flew up to try and look at her, but I only saw black because of the sudden movement. I was pushed down, and I felt someone lie a wet cloth on my forehead.

"Easy now, you took a hard hit." she told me.

"Sedeqetelebab? How... You left us, you..."

"I'm sorry Adataneses, but that life wasn't for me. Neither is it one for you. Adataneses, you have to-"

"Stop, stop." I mumbled, having the worst headache I had ever had.

"S-sorry. Adataneses, I heard you met Japheth. And that the man you had talked about all those years ago was Japheth too. He told me he had met this girl from Eliakim that didn't know him. And he told us that just this midday he met you again. You always liked to walk didn't you? I'm happy you didn't change, or at least-"

"You're babbling, Sedeqetelebab." I said

"Y-yes, I'm sorry."

An awkward silence fell over us. I still couldn't quite grasp fully what was happening. After some time, I felt a weight shift besides me and when I opened my eyes again I saw that Sedeqetelebab had fallen asleep beside me. Even though my head hurt and sleep was again forcing my eyelids slowly shut, I couldn't help the tiniest spark of relief that my sister was by my side again.

* * *

><p>When I woke up again, I finally felt somewhat better. I really had done enough slipping away and waking up these past few days. Or at least, I assumed it had been a couple of days since I had my second encounter with a son of Noah.<p>

I put my hand above my eyes, so that less light could reach my still somewhat sensitive head.

What were the chances that in such a big forest, I would meet the same person twice? They said the forest reached as far as the sandy steps in the north. We all thought that this was because of the enormous size of the trees. Because maybe they needed more space to grow and as a consequence had taken up more space than the average forests where our clans hunted in.

It was because of that size and thickness of the woods, that father had decided against searching too long for his runaway daughter and the Noah family. Noah could have been anywhere, from here, to the sandy steps north, to the green hills south. But apparently, they had been closer in the forest than we all had thought.

I always only threaded at the brink of the forest, and still that man, Japheth, had managed to find me. Although it probably was the case that he had just accidentally met me.

Speaking about accidents, running into a tree had never really happened much to me in my life. Maybe when I was still little, I knew of one time I did, but I couldn't remember another occasion.

On top of that, I couldn't remember ever having these symptoms. A headache, slipping away, not being able to stand loud sounds... I did remember that once one of my brothers had come home with something similar after a fight. He had to lie down for a whole week before he could tolerate sunlight and sound again. Another nephew wasn't that lucky and was almost down for a whole moon.

What if I had the same illness as him? Cold sweat broke out and the throbbing in my head became more intense. I took a few deep breaths, but my heart was already bouncing out of my chest.

If I had that illness, I had to survive here for at least a week.

A whole week with this wicked believing family that could kill me at any moment.

My only reassurance was that Sedeqetaleb was here. Maybe she could beg them to keep me alive, although when the women at home tried that, they mostly just got slapped by the men or yelled at and the killing would go on. The killing always went on.

I wanted to cry, but my head was already hurting so I tried to hold my tears in.

Where was Sedeqetaleb? Maybe she could help me escape or at least think of a plan. It was weird that now my only savior in this whole mess was Sedeqetaleb. Although I had sworn to myself that when I saw her again I would slap the living daylights out of here for leaving us, here I was depending on her. She had left me, and she angered me.

But more than anger I felt happy that she had been here last night. I hoped that it hadn't been a dream, without her I would be even more lost than I was now. I was happy when her warmth was besides me when I had woken up. And I was happy when she was blabbering at me again, just like old times.

Even though I held some sort of a grudge against her, and was afraid for her sanity, I loved her dearly.

I had to find her. I slowly sat up, my headache protesting at the movement.

Right at that moment a woman walked in.

"Ah, you're awake. Sedeqetelebab must be happy to hear that. How are you feeling?" she asked, filling a bowl that had been located at my right with water she had brought with her in a jug.

"I-I'm fine." I said softly, not knowing what were the right things to say. What if they killed me if I treated them wrongly? I gulped nervously.

"Good. Although I didn't expect any less with the care of Sedeqetelebab. Here, drink something."

I took the bowl from her and sipped from it, while observing her closely.

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh, how rude of me, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Ne'elatama'uk, wife of Shem ben Noah. You don't have to say your name, Sedeqetelebab has already told us about your... background." She looked in the distance from some time, lost in a memory.

"Ne'elatama'uk?" I asked. "As in Ne'elatama'uk bint Abbot?."

"Ah, yes, I figured you would know of my name. Those clans and their stories." She sighed. "I rather call myself Ne'elatama'uk nowadays but I am a daughter of Abbot. The daughter of Abbot that married with a son of Noah."

I stared at her and then took another sip. Of course I would meet her here, I was in Noah's territory, I shouldn't be too shocked. But still, meeting the women of all the tales was quite an experience. As was this whole ordeal.

"L-listen Ne'elatama'uk, I... The Noah family... We... I just want to-" I tried.

She smiled sadly at me. "You want to go back to your family?" she asked me.

I nodded hesitantly, and gave the bowl back. Ne'elatama'uk put it away and wiped her hands on her clothes.

"That's the difficult part." she said. She then stood up and lifted the tent flap. When her head was outside the tent, she yelled "She woke up!" Those words were repeated by someone and then someone else in the distance, who sounded just like Jafheth.

Soon, quick steps were heard and in no time Sedeqetelebab appeared in the tent.

"Adataneses? Are you okay?" she asked bewildered. She was sweaty and her clothes were dirty.

"Y-yes, I'm okay." I said.

"Oh bless Adonai." she exclaimed, leaning on Ne'elatama'uk who let out a short laugh and put some stray locks of Sedeqetelebab behind her ear. "You worry too much Sedeqetelebab."

"'Bless Adonai?'" I repeated astonished. "So you actually believe?"

Ne'elatama'uk and Sedeqetelebab shared a look.

"Adataneses," Sedeqetelebab began, "Before I married Ham I converted."

I looked down. "You really married him." I almost whispered.

I saw Sedeqetelebab nod from the corner of my eyes.

"I can't be here, with believers. Believers are-" I stopped myself and looked at Na'eltama'uk. I didn't think Sedeqetelebab would kill me, but this women was another story. I had to watch my words.

Sedeqetelebab sighed sadly and I bit my lip.

Na'eltama'uk shared another sad look with Sedeqetelebab, before excusing herself. Now that she wasn't here, I finally dared to speak my heart.

"Sedeqetelebab, how could you leave us?" I hissed. "Believers are crazy, I thought we agreed on that!"

"No, Adataneses, that isn't true! We were just foolish then. You can't even imagine how wrong we were. The whole clan has it wrong."

"The clan isn't wrong, you are wrong. This clan is wrong."

"This isn't a clan. We are a family, how a family is supposed to be." Sedeqetelebab said defensively.

I looked at her uncomprehendingly. "And how is a family supposed to be?" I asked.

"Lovingly." Sedeqetelebab immediately said. "When I still lived with father, I too didn't notice, but there isn't any love with Eliakim. We lived empty lives, Adataneses, you felt it too, right?"

I looked away because I indeed knew that feeling. But I always thought everyone had that feeling somewhere. Only the truly wicked of mind went for that Adonai to find more in life.

"I want to go home." I whispered, confused, hurt and scared.

Sedeqetelebab tried to grab my hand, but I retreated and put my hands under the blanket.

"I'm going." I tried to stand up, but suddenly was dizzy again.

"You can't go yet Adataneses, you have to rest a couple of days before your head will be completely fine again. That's what Naamah told be anyway. "

"Naamah?" I asked.

"Yes, she is the second wife of Noah. Even though Sem, Ham and Japheth aren't her children by blood, she treats them as if they were her own. Have you ever seen any of the wives at home do that? She even treats me as a daughter! It's wonderful, I never had a mother like her." Sedeqetelebab said, playing with the hair lock that had strayed again.

"It's weird." I just said, carefully feeling at my head. "And even Noah has more wives?"

"No, only two. The first one died, only then was Noah allowed to took another wive in."

I hummed in thought.

"Say, Sedeqetelebab." I murmured. "I- I'm so mad at you. So, so mad. But at the same time I'm so happy you are here. Can you please, please... protect me from this family?"

Sedeqetelebab stayed silent and when I finally looked up to gauge her reaction, I saw her mouth slightly ajar.

"I understand your grudge, and even so I would protect you, no question about it, but protect you from _who_ exactly?" she finally asked when she snapped out of her wonder.

"From the kin of Noah." I exclaimed. "They will surely kill me if it weren't for you."

"No, they wouldn't. Addonai has forbidden us from killing." Sedeqetelebab explained with wide eyes.

"Really?" I asked surprised. "But at home they-"

"Yeah, in our family they kill on a regular basis. But even though that feels normal for you, it isn't." she said.

"People who don't kill and have but one wife." I mused. "Believers have some weird customs."

Sedeqetelebab laughed softly. When I yawned she decided: "I will let you sleep for now, I think that's best. And don't worry, I'll protect you, even though these people wouldn't hurt a fly."

She smiled, apparently amused at the thought of having to protect me from her new family. Did they really not kill?

"Hey Sedeqetelebab?" I said before she disappeared.

"Hm?" she asked.

"I'm glad I've got to see you again."

She beamed at me and immediately responded. "Me too."

Glad with those words, I could go to sleep contentedly for the first time in years.


	3. Characters

**Not all the names mentioned below are directly from the bible. A lot of them are from the _Book of Jubilees_, used around 2 BC (I recommend to look it up on google, it's quite interesting!)**

* * *

><p><strong>Last names were of course not in use in ancient times. Instead they used the name of the father.<strong>

**For boys:「name - BEN - fathers name」**

**For girls:「name - BINT - fathers name」**

* * *

><p><strong><strong>❤ Married<strong>**

**▶Child**

* * *

><p><strong>Noah ben LAMECH ❤ Titea Emzara bint RAKE'EL<strong>

▶Shem ben NOAH

▶Ham ben NOAH

▶Japheth ben NOAH

**Noah ben LAMECH ❤ Naamah bint LAMECH**

none

**Shem ben NOAH ❤ Sedeqetelebab bint ELIAKIM **

▶Arphaxad ben SHEM

▶Elam ben SHEM

▶Asshur ben SHEM

▶Lud ben SHEM

▶Aram ben SHEM

**Ham ben NOAH ❤ Ne'elatama'uk bint ADDOT**

▶Cush ben HAM

▶Mizraim ben HAM.

▶Phut ben HAM.

▶Canaan ben HAM

**Japheth ben NOAH ❤ Adataneses bint ELIAKIM **

▶Gomer ben JAPHETH

▶Magog ben JAPHETH

▶Madai ben JAPHETH

▶Javan ben JAPHETH

▶Tubul ben JAPHETH

▶Meshech ben JAPHETH

▶Tiras ben JAPHETH


End file.
